<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
<h1>Guatemalan court finds former dictator Rios Montt guilty of genocide</h1>
<small><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/10/us-guatemala-riosmontt-idUSBRE9490V420130510">http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/10/us-guatemala-riosmontt-idUSBRE9490V420130510</a></small></small></small><br>
<div id="relatedInlineVideo"></div>
<span id="articleText"><span id="midArticle_start"></span>
<div id="articleInfo">
<p class="byline">By Mike McDonald</p>
<p> <span class="location">GUATEMALA CITY</span> | <span
class="timestamp">Fri May 10, 2013 7:18pm EDT</span> </p>
</div>
<span id="midArticle_0"></span><span class="focusParagraph">
<p> (Reuters) - A Guatemalan court on Friday found former dictator
Efrain Rios Montt guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity during
the bloodiest phase of the country's 36-year civil war.</p>
</span><span id="midArticle_1"></span>
<p>He was sentenced to 50 years in prison on the genocide charge and 30
years for crimes against humanity. It was the first time a former head
of state had been found guilty of genocide in his or her own country.</p>
<span id="midArticle_2"></span>
<p>Rios Montt, 86, took power after a coup in 1982, and is accused of
implementing a scorched-earth policy in which troops massacred
thousands of indigenous villagers. He entered the court on Friday to
boos and cries of "Justicia!" or justice.</p>
<span id="midArticle_3"></span>
<p>Prosecutors say Rios Montt turned a blind eye as soldiers used rape,
torture and arson to try to rid Guatemala of leftist rebels during his
1982-1983 rule, the most violent period of a 1960-1996 civil war in
which as many as 250,000 people died.</p>
<span id="midArticle_4"></span>
<p>He was tried over the killings of at least 1,771 members of the Maya
Ixil indigenous group, just a fraction of the number who died during
his rule. He denies the allegations.</p>
<span id="midArticle_5"></span>
<p>"(Rios Montt) had full knowledge of everything that was happening
and did not stop it," Judge Yasmin Barrios, who presided over the
trial, told a packed courtroom where Mayan women wearing colorful
traditional head-dresses and headphones have closely followed
proceedings.</p>
<span id="midArticle_6"></span>
<p>The decision came just weeks after the trial was hanging in the
balance when a dispute broke out between judges over who should hear
the case.</p>
<span id="midArticle_7"></span>
<p>(Editing by Simon Gardner; Editing by Peter Cooney)</p>
</span>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.freedomarchives.org">www.freedomarchives.org</a>
</div>
</body>
</html>